hardcore pawnography

here is the thing about book reviews - i’ve learned that they aren’t always reliable. not that the reviewer is trying to mislead you, but depending on the experience of the reviewer, the personality of the reviewer, and a few other factors, a book might be reviewed inaccurately for you personally.

a beginner who doesn’t have the knowledge needed to understand complex things will review a book a whole lot differently than a 1900 or a master. i like a certain approach to things, so i might not like the way a book is set up, whereas someone who is used to a certain approach might love the book and get more out of it.

i’m not leading up to anything, there is no punch line, none of that. i’ve done book reviews in the past, and i thought, well, who the fuck am i to say if the book is good or not? i might think something is awesome, and later, after i get experience, i realize it’s full of shit. i might think a book is useless, then when i am more seasoned, i realize it is perfect for a medium level.

i decided i was not going to do book reviews (unless they are fiction or historical or biographical) because i am not qualified to say if a book is good or not. yeah, i know it’s opinion and all, but i don’t think i know enough to have a worthwhile opinion.

blue devil knight (i wonder how he’s doing. i hope he is doing well, i miss him) reviewed practical chess excercises by Ray Cheng a while ago, (note: i didn’t read his review until i wrote mine just now, and now that i’ve read it, we say about the same thing.) i just got the book, and now i’m gonna say what i think about it, because i feel really strongly about this book. i want to tell everyone how great this book is.

i love this freakin book. why? let me list the reasons.

it’s a book of 600 chess problems. they include tactics as well as positional stuff. here is why this book makes all other tactics/problem books its bitch.

1. problems on one page, answers right there on the other. no flipping back and forth and trying to hold a place at the end of the book. i want the answer. BAM there it is. instant gratification.

2. no hints, just “white to move” or “black to move.” if i know the problem is gonna be about a fork, then i look for a fork. there are no hints during a game. this book trains you to look and “see” what is going on. it trains you to think.

3. all problems come from actual games. and not just GM games. there is a botvinnik game here, a lasker game there, but the majority are from actual games played by regular mortals, which means the positions are those i am more likely to see. when i play like karpov, then i will work on karpov’s positions. now i play like a regular shmoe, with goofy fucked up positions, i should learn how to play them correctly.

4. difficulty is randomized. it doesn’t start out easy, then get harder, you have an easy problem, then a hard one, then a medium. again, you have to think, things might be obvious, then they might not be, just like real life. it trains you to think.

4 1/2. even the “easy” problems aren’t that obvious. maybe to someone with a much higher rating they are, but not to me, and i’ve seen lots of books with obvious easy answers.

5. answers are well explained. you don’t just get the answer, you also get the why and what’s happening. (note: bdk felt some explanations could use a bit more meat, so far, i’ve been happy with what i’ve read). again, teaches you to think, what to look for.

to be fair, i should give a negative about the book. i just can’t. i love the variety of the problems, i like how they are presented, i like the font used, i like the quality of the paper, i can’t think of one thing that could be better. i honestly can’t.
i don’t know what level this book is meant for, but i have to believe that everyone up to and including 1600 level players (perhaps even up to 1800?) could benefit from this book. surely anyone below 1500 could use this book.

really, it’s right now the best chess problem book i’ve read and own. i literally look at some problems in the morning, during the day, and before i go to bed. i carry the book with me wherever i go and look at it when i can. i’m glad i have it, and if anyone is looking for a new book on tactics and positions, this is the next book they should get.

i’m tired.  drove out to denver yesterday, in the crappy snowy weather, to meet my daughter, who drove in from st louis.  she is staying with us over the christmas break, for a bout a month.  this morning, we woke up and drove back home, and here i am, unwashed, tired.

i fear my chess studies will  be even more interrupted, since the kid is visiting for a month.

i’m going over alekhine’s games, having a blast doing it, what fun games they are.    in all this time, i’ve managed to read This crazy world of chess, the reletively new book by GM Larry Evans.  i read the signed copy i got from him at reno a few months ago.

what a fun book!  there are 101 chapters, each about 2 pages long, with the longest chapter being, i think, chapter 28, at 16 pages.   the book is a bunch of essays, anecdotes, stories, memories.  a few games are in there, but only at the end of the chapters about something that had to do with the games played, for example, there is a chapter on ray charles’ interest in chess, and at the end is the game played between ray charles and larry evans.

the book is great for chess players and non-players alike.  it should almost be required reading for “serious” chess players, as it gives a good “modern history and mythology” about the chess world, and we should know where we’ve been.  it’s great for people who know nothing about chess, as it is just intersting how much craziness and weird crap surrounds the game.  scandals, the”mystery” of alekhine’s death, stuff about bobby fischer you probably don’t know, unless you are edwin “dutch defense” meyer, who knows all about fischer.

there will never be a “this crazy world of monopoly” or even “this crazy world of scrabble,” although the “professional” scrabble world has it’s share of weirdness.

a super interesting “insider’s” look into the chess world, all in bite sized pieces that you don’t even have to read in order.

i would recommend it to anyone.

so i finished king’s gambit: a son, a father, and the worlds most dangerous game by Paul Hoffman. i liked it. while dealing with his own issues, hoffman goes around the chess world, looking into the psychological aspects of chess players, both historical and present. he does on a major scale what i try to do on my minor scale. he hangs out with GMs to get thier story and write about it. he hung out with jennifer shahade and irana krush to get cover the female aspects and views of chess, he hung out with nigel short, the book turns travel narrative when he accompanies Pascal Charbonneau to libya for a chess tournament. the book talks about the seedier side of chess with the paul truong and sam sloan issues. it’s kind of all over, yet he pulls it together somehow. i think it’s written well, it is damn sure interesting, it gives some good historic anecdotes and background, and all with a background of his relationship with his father.  and one thing i really enjoyed about it was the footnotes.  usually, footnotes are boring, but hoffman’s footnotes are like a second book of little essays, they are filled with interesting info. i liked it, i think chess players will like it, and i think non chess players would enjoy it.  definitely worth it. .

as for the second book i will review….

so, at the reno tournament, i was explaining to wahrheit how much i suck, and he recommended the seven deadly chess sins by jonathan rowson. holy crap what a great book. this was one of the best things i got out of the tournament.

when i bought waitzkin’s ode to self “the art of learning” i was expecting a book that would teach me how to learn. the seven deadly chess sins is the book i was apparently looking for. so far, i’ve only read the first 24 pages, and already i’ve learned a bit on how i learn. rowson talks about pattern recognition (listen up all you de la maza freaks) and how, if you see a position but you haven’t encountered it before, you might not retain it, your brain won’t have anything to lump it in with. also, you may have preconceived notions, e.g. “doubled pawns are bad, 2 rooks are better than a queen” etc, that actually prevent you from learning. it’s not the patterns you’re exposed to, it’s the order in which you take them in. it explains, and now i understand, why some books and material are for advanced players. i used to think “this book is for 1700 players, if i read it, i will be like a 1700 player. i’m not stupid, i can understand it.” turns out, that is not entirely true. i now, thanks to the book, understand why.

i’ll write more about that later, but for now, THIS is the book that, so far, talks about “the art of learning.” it’s a great book, i would recommend it to everyone. it’s one of those books that, you read it, learn, and a year later, read it and learn more, etc etc. thanks wahrheit, i will become a better chess player because of this book.

and finally for today, i got an email from a reader of the blog, ray cheng, who sent me a link to a cool site where they make custom boards.

http://www.customchess.com/gallery.htm

cheng got one for a present, and in his words “Hey, I might play chess like a goddamn turnip, but at least my equipment kicks ass.”

that is endorsement enough for me, so i am sharing it with anyone who reads this…

rock on ….

i swear i wouldn’t buy any new books. i don’t need any new books. why don’t i just read the ones i have and study them? if i only learned from the books i have now i would be a few thousand points higher in ratings…

yeah, well, i went and bought “rethinking the chess pieces” by soltis. i don’t read the books actually, i glance through them, see what’s interesting, i use my books like a tasting buffet, a bit from here, a bit from there. it’s my short attention span.

ok, now that i think about it, i’m not sure if it was that book or the petrosian book i’m going through. crap, it may have been “my system” but i don’t think so. ANYWAY, i was browsing through one of those books and there is this cool sac exchange that apparently used to be used quite frequently by the russians and has fallen out of favor. it is rook x the knight on c6. most people would be appalled at trading a castle for a horse, but this fucks up the pawn structure and causes chaos and apparently is a pretty strong move. i think i tried it against the computer or online and it worked ok for me.

dammit, now i can’t find that damn move.

anyway, in rethinking the pieces, soltis gives a few reasons when to make an exchange sacrifice:

1. when it substantially changes the impact of the minor pieces

2. when the rooks can’t behave like rooks (too much debris and traffic on the board, rooks cant use the board like a giant slip n’ slide)

3. when there are several minor pieces on the board

4. when it inflicts significant pawn damage (note: aha! it was in this book, in the last chapter. rook takes knight, which apparently is pretty sound in some circumstances, usually in the sicilian)

5. when it gains the two bishops

so anyway, rethinking the pieces is a pretty cool book, i’m glad i got it, even though i probably don’t need it. it does help me “rethink” the personality of the pieces, the potential of the pieces, the capabilities of them. and i learned that in the Sicilian Dragon, you can take out the knight with your rook and it’s not always wrong….

today was stage 16 on the tour, which ends sunday. holy crap, what drama. vinokurov, who came back to win not just the time trial but a stage, has withdrawn for testing positive for a blood transfusion. now, i think he got the transfusion to clean out his knee, which had gone totally septic. michael rasumussen, to my surprise, retains the yellow, and today, i thought contador would take it, but NO! contador tried, coudln’t do it, and rasumussen pulled away and further cemented his lead. one last time trial to go, barring some freak accident, or a really bad ride, it looks like rasmussen will win the tour. but it’s still close enough to be surprised, so there is that.

ok, chess….

i know i have all the books i need, i now need to study them and learn. so what did i do? i bought more. but these are the last i will buy, i SWEAR!

first, hanging out in a bookstore, i bought “imagination in chess” by paata gaprindashvili. it’s a book of 756 positions, taken from actual games. all you do is study them and try to figure out what the next moves will be. kind of like a tactics book, but it’s not just tactics, there are regular positional moves and such. i need this and like it, a great book to have while waiting in line or at a red light or between commercials on tv.

next, yesterday the mailman delievered TWO books by mark dvoretsky, “Secrets of chess training” and “Strategic play.” i got them becuase josh waitzkin mentioned dvoretsky in “the art of learning.” i’ve looked through both of them, and i love them immediately. they are like workbooks, with lectures and puzzles and these two books alone could and will take me a year to really learn from them, and even then i won’t have all they have to offer. they are like graduate level text books. no, i definately do NOT need any more books.

here is a list of my chess books:

“Secrets of chess training” - mark dvoretsky

“Strategic play” - mark dvoretsky

“imagination in chess” - paata gaprindashvili

“complete book of chess strategy” jeremy silman

“Amateurs mind” - silman

“my system” - nimzowitsch

“chess openings for white, explained” - lev alburt

“chess openings for black, explained” - alburt

“chess strategy for the tournament player” -alburt

“practical chess analysis” - mark buckley

“think like a grandmaster” - alexander kotov

“logical chess move by move”- irving chernev

“capablancas best chess endings” - chernev

“winning chess, how to see 3 moves ahead” - chernev and reinfeld

“the most instructive games of chess ever played” - chernev

“combinations, the heart of chess” - chernev
“the life and games of mikhail tal” - tal

“grandmaster chess move by move” - john nunn

“mammoth book of the worlds greatest chess games” - grahm burgess, john nunn, john emms

“art of attack” - vladimir vukovic

“understanding chess tactics” - martin weteschnik

“chess tactics for champions” susan polger

“chess the art of logical thinking” - neil mcdonald

“chess the mechanics of the mind” - helmut pfleger and gerd treppner

“”500 master games of chess” - dr. s. tartakower and j. du mont

“alexander alekhine master of attack” - alexander raetsky and maxim chetverik

“alexander alekhine games 1902 - 1922″ (just game moves and positions, no commentary or anything)

” zurich tournament 1953″ - david bronstein

“new york international tournament 1924″ - alekhine

“the gruenfeld defense revealed” - michael khodarkovsky

“the modern benoni revealed” - richard palliser (thanks wang)

“starting out: the king’s indian” - joe gallagher

“mastering the middlegame” - angus dunnington

“concise chess openings” - neil mcdonald

“chess openings the easy way” nick de firmian

“teach yourself better chess” (i like this, it’s a fun little book with reminders and tips and small bite size lessons, two pages long).

and that, i think, is everything. for now.

if you have any comments on the books, if you know some of the info is bullshit, if you have any questions about the books, whatever, please please, resspond away. let it become a discussion. i’d like to hear everyone’s opinion.

*allusion to shakespear, pretty classy, huh?

stage 9, tour resumes in the mountains, those boys are suffering more than i do playing chess.  vinokourov is riding with stitches in both knees and an elbow.   imagine peddling a bicycle up a mountain, and not just a regular mountain, but an alp, with fresh stiches in both knees.  those dudes are harder than woodpecker lips.

so i finished “the art of learning” by josh waitzkin.   it was mostly how great he is at whatever he wants to do.  apparently, as a kid, he was walking in the park, saw chess for the first time, and gave the guy he played a hard time winning as he was learning the rules.  he talked about his rise to chess stardom and then his rise to kung fu stardom.

perhaps i expected something different, which put me off.  maybe i was expecting a “how to learn” kind of book, and he does give some guidance and tips, but the majority of the book is about him struggling and excelling at his pursuits.  as i said in a previous post, i did learn that there are two types of learning, entity and incrementaly.  i am an entity learner, therefore i defeat myself often .   there were some interesting parts in the book, but mostly it’s a kind of biography of his struggles and successes with a few tips on how you can be a bit better.

at first i wanted to say “fuck you josh waitzkin, thanks for telling me how naturally gifted you are and how i’m not” because it seemed to be one big fluff piece on how awesome he is.  but as i read along, i could see he was trying, maybe, to “teach” via the parables of his life stories. yeah, it’s easy for me to bag on the guy, but really, what do i know, i’m just some idiot with a crappy blog, he is travveling around with an agent giving seminars.
as a book, it is written quite well, easy to read, rather exciting in some parts (if you enjoy following a kung fu match, i do) and i am sure if you try you can take away something from it.  it’s not a horrible book, not at all, i’m glad i read it and i might go back and re-read a part or two, but there was no great revelations, it’s not a guide to learning or a how-to self improvement book.   it’s a “learn what you can by reading what i’ve done and get inspired” kind of book.

maybe the answers are right there in front of me and i’m too dumb to see them, that is entirely possible.   i would reccommend the book if you have time. i’d get it from the library though first, and if you really really like it, go ahead an buy it.  there might be something in the book that talks to you and puts you on the right track.

holy crap, i’m home. first off, THANK YOU EVERYONE. thanks for the comments and well wishes and everything. seriously.

ok, so i went to spain, “the land of the ham sandwich.” everything in spain is easy to do, no hassles, no fuss. the food is great, ham sandwhiches, with or without cheese, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacktime. but it’s really really good ham. i must have eaten a small pig’s worth of ham in the week i was in spain. and the wine, oh man. spain’s cheapest crappiest table wine is better than some of the good wines elsewhere. wine and ham, really, what more do you need? in barcelona, i saw this cool store that had games, mostly chess. other than that, i didn’t see too much chess going on in spain.  click on the pic for the full view.

went to the salvador dali museum in figueras, north of barthelona, which was worth the whole price of admission. barcelona is cool and hip, and although it is primarily a tourist town, it is still pretty damn nice. went to the beach on the one overcast and rainy day, and there were still people laying out and swimming. (must have been from britan or the norse countries). on the train i met this filipina chick who is the personal assistant to a matador. i real live matador, who does bullfigths and everything. she told me all about it, how stressful it was cause she knows all his secrets and all the other matador’s people try to get her to tell the secrets to ruin him, and he is nice but his wife is a nervous bitch who only cares about shopping, and who comes and who goes and all that. such intrigue, it was like a movie. madrid is nice, a bit more “buisness” than barcelona, but still cool. the arhitecture in spain is pretty neat. everywhere in madrid and barcelona there are castles and gothic buildings. kinda cool really. i like spain, i’ll definately go back.

sadly, i didn’t get to benidorm. sorry his best friend, i let you down on that one.

i returned home from spain, spent one night at home, then drove to see my sister in new jersey and my brother in texas on the way home from new jersey. the road trip wasn’t too bad really. I-79 in west virgina at 1 a.m is a racetrack, me and one other guy driving at 110 mph. good times. kentucky has white castle, so i stopped and availed myself of the minature tasty treats. then, 20 miles later, still in kentucky, i stopped at another white castle and got more. mmmmm, i love me some white castle.

then i got stuck in west virginia. i was driving back home and i hit a piece of retread in the road, which tore up my transmission. i made it to a hotel and the next day i had to get find someone who could fix a honda transmission, then i had to get the car towed to that someone. he had to order a part, which would take a few days, then the part came in but it was the wrong part, so he had to re-order it which would take a few more days. i was in sutton/flatwoods. there is nothing there. nothing. i spent each night at the hotel bar, waging holy war on my braincells. just so you all know, there aint no chess in west virgina. not where i was anyway. that said, i went to the book outlet across from my hotel, and i found the book the grunfeld defence revealed by michael khodarkovsky at an extremely reduced price. i had been studying the new york 1924 tournament, and wanted something different, so i got it. i really liked it, and now i think i will use the grunfeld at every chance i get. it seems fun and i think i understand it. the book is well presented, well written, and has a lot of instructional games. it starts with “first steps” where it explains the moves, then the chapter “heros and zeros” with instructive games. then it has a chapter on strategy, explaining the different lines, then what’s hot, tricks and traps, quizzes, and finally, a bunch of games. lots of info in this 172 page book, i’m glad i found it.

being stuck in a hotel room for a week wasn’t all that bad, if you look at it from the point of view of “this gives me time to focus and study chess, uninterupted, not tempted by the normal distractions at home.” so i did. in the back of my mind was the niggling and whining of being on a forced impromptu vacation, but otherwise, it was time i wouldn’t have had. so there is that.

so i get home and find out my tournament registration was sent back “return to sender.” i may have miss-addressed it. i have to check. still, i will re-register, i am looking forward to the tournament, and to meeting my man wang.

so i visited a friend and got her to take a picture for me. i was thinking of making it my new avatar. i was also thinking of making it a new feature here at hardcore pawnography, the “chess babe of the week. ” thing is, it will turn out to be more the “chess babe of the quarter” as i don’t know how many girls i could get. but i want to make chess a cool fun thing, remove the nerdy impressions attatched to it, i want people to think of chess as more punk rock, more cool. anyway, here is the picture, sorry it didn’t come out that great. but i think you get the concept.

so i was thinking, if you guys want to take similar pics, or if there are any girls who read this and want to take some kind of cool pic of you in a chess related theme, send them to me and i’ll post them. the pics dont have to show cleavage or any of that, they just have to have a chess related theme and a girl. just an idea.

i had intended on having more cool pics of spain and such.  sorry that didn’t happen.

it’s nice to be back.

yesterday was a big mail day for me, i not only got this month’s chess life, i also recieved “think like a grandmaster” by kotov and “alexander alekhine master of attack” from amazon. awesome, i have even more chess books.

i didn’t mean to start reading “think like a grandmaster” i just wanted to look at some of the words, and before i knew it, i was about 20 pages into it. what a kick ass book. not only is it written in a freindly, easy approach type style, it made me feel i too could someday attain a master rating. it is reccommended by just about everyone, and now i can see why. i feel stupid for waiting this long to get it.

thing about chess books and chess, for me, is… things i used to do are falling by the wayside. i used to try to read 52 books a year, a book a week. best i ever did was 43. now, i have a ton of books to read, but i no longer read them. every moment i have to spare i read a chess book or study chess, and i don’t read other books. when i do read other books, i feel like i am “cheating” and i feel guilty that i am “wasting time” in frivolus fun fiction instead of chess. ok, so i tend to fritter and waste a decent amount of time on the internet, there is that. but i see myself concentrating on chess and neglecting other things i used to do, like cycling.

and part of me doesn’t mind that at all. i really really really really like chess, and the desire to become a master =really x avogadro’s number. (avogadro’s number, for those who don’t know, is 6.02 x 10 to the 23rd) .

the other thing about all the chess books i have is, i have a lot of chess books, more than 30. ok, to many people, 30 chess books is less than they have in one of thier boxes of chess books. but really, are they helping me? i wish i could learn what they have in them merely by buying and having the books, but alas, it don’t work like that. each book must be studied, pored over, digested, re-read, internalised, etc. and that takes a good amount of time, which brings me back to having to take time from previous activities.

what is this post about? i don’t know, i’m just rambling, emtying my thoughts as they come onto a screen. i have a lot of chess books, i am getting even more. i need to study and learn from the books i have, simply buying books isn’t going to improve my chess, i must devote time to it, and that means putting other interests aside, maybe not cycling or reading as much as i had in the past, but it’s not a loss, it’s a gain. i can still cycle (went for a ride last night), i can still read other books (i’m almost done with a book about an economist who travels around the states finding fault with all the cool places to live) but now, i will also have chess.

back to “think like a grandmaster.” kotov says, right up front, it requires serious study, lots of work, dedication. i’d like to think i can give chess that. i know his book makes me feel like i can, and his book makes me want to. even if i have “too many” books, i am sure glad i bought this one, it just might be the most important book i have.

what would you do if you were white?

here is the thing, you could draw, or you could lose, depending on the move you make.

if, as white, you moved b4, follwing the general rule to advance the pawn that is free from opposition you would draw. if you didn’t know what you were doing, like me, you would play maybe a4, and black would play …a5 and win by following the principle of high strategy of chess - a unit that holds two. in this case, the black a pawn would be holding off the two white pawns on a and b.

i also learned you want to get the opposing king to the last line on any side of the board. here, the next move for white would be to move the the rook to a7 to keep the black king imprisoned on the last rank. black moves his king to g8 and next white moves his king to g2. the rule to follow here is keep the king as much as possible on the same rank or, as in this case, file as the opposing king.

ok, lets say the black king is in the center. the best move for white is moving the king to e2 and if black moves to d5 then e3, moving the king strait into the center of the board, not in front but to the side of the other king, and if the black king goes to e5, move the rook to h5 with check. if after the white king moves to e2 black moves his king to c4, then white would move his rook to h5, keeping the black king confined, and if black next moves to c3, then the rook goes to h4, shrinking blacks space to move.

it’s these little things i need to learn and know deep in my bones, as these basic principles apply and can be used throughout the game.

for those interested, i got these examples and pretty much plagerized the text from the book “chess fundamentals” by jose capablanca, which i picked up at the library when i went to chess club. it’s a pretty good book, very basic, but it has stuff that i just don’t know yet, like keeping the king on the same rank or file as the enemy. the book is in algebraic notation, printed in easy to read font, and has 14 games at the end which illustrate the points made in the book.

i’d like to use this new knowledge in actual play, but us chess live is down because it’s becoming world chess live, so no internet chess for me for a little while longer, unless i play on yahoo.

and, thanks to  blue devil knight bringing this to everyone’s attention, i shall join in and say MONROI SUCKS. and, it turns out the monroi will disrupt pacemakers and cause sterilty. (ok, i made those up, but you never really know, do you?)

anyone reading this, have a great weekend..

after being reminded last night of exactlyhow much i suck and to what extent i suck, i was thinking this morning what a bummer it is that i have spent hundreds of dollors on books and i have a brand new chess clock and i will never play chess again because i suck and i hate it. then, today, two more books that i ordered came in, one of them being chess strategy for the tournament player by lev alburt.

one of my weaknesses, besides being the whole damn game start to finish, is strategy. i don’t get strategy. well, now, after reading the introduction, i think i do. and i think i actually have a chance at learning and getting better and possibly winning some real games.

i’d like to share with you some parts of the introduction, so you can see what i like about the book so far…

here is the one part that kind of openend my eyes a bit. i kind of knew it, but to read it and see it drove it home, made it more real for me. it might be old hat for most people, but for me, i like hearing (reading) it again. it clarified a bit for me.

” A plan is a visualized series of steps that make it possible to achieve a goal. Learning to plan is absolutely essential for every player who wishes to improve. Indeed, one of the attractions of chess is the way in which it teaches forsight and planning.

Strategy is the art of forming an overall plan. Frequently the fact that correct strategic planning dictates the choice of objectives is understated. Strategy is the “grand scheme” for a game. In a sense, strategy is the opposite of tactics, whish are the application of a short series of forced moves to achieve an immediate improvement. The words positional and strategic are frequently used interchangably.

The very first step in composing an appropriate strategy is to evaluate the position correctly…..”

oh, so that’s what strategy is. ok. i know i am weak and ignorant in the mystical ways of evaulating a position, much less doing it correctly. the introduction has read my mind and continues….

“Based on the accomplishments of his predecessors and contemporaries, as well as his own experience, Steinitz formulated the following positional elements:

1. Development

2. Mobility

3. Control of the center

4. The positions of the kings

5. Weak and strong squares in both camps

6. Pawn structure

7. Queenside pawn majority

8. Open files

9. Two bishops against the bishop and knight or against two knights.”

ok, cool, so that is what i need to know to evaluate correctly. sweet. then, the last page of the introduction has Steinitz’s Four Rules of Strategy, which, for those who may not know, are the following:

1. The right to attack belongs to the side that has the positional advantage, and that side not only has the right to attack, but also the obligation to do so, or else his advantage may evaporate.  The attack should be concentrated on the weakest square in the opponents position.   (so, if i have a positional advantage, i am OBLIGED to attack.  awesome.  i also like to attack when i am at a disadvantage, when i am losing, after i lost, pretty much that is all i do.  perhaps i need to calm down a bit).

2.  If in an inferior position, the defender should be ready to defend and make compromises, or take other measures, such as a desperate counterattack.  (i am damn good at the desperate counterattack.  i think another measure i could take is to kick the guy under the table, perhaps threaten his family or something?)

3.  In an equal position, the opponents should maneuver, trying to acheive a position in which they have an advantage.  If both sides play correctly, an equal position will remain equal.  (with me playing, both sides will NOT play correctly, and i will have to resort to rule 2 above)

4.  The advantage may be a big, indivisible one (for example, a rook on the seventh rank), or it may be a whole series of small advantages.  The goal of the stronger side is to store up the advantages, and to convert temporary advantages into permanent ones.

so, that is the introduction (the main good parts, to me, anyway).  the book covers good and bad bishops (are bad bishops the same as naughty bishops?), bishops of opposite color (obvious racial joke here), cutting off a piece from the main action, when the bishop is stronger than the knight, when the knight is stronger than the bishop, bishop pair, the long diagonals, open files and diagonals, weak and strong squares, weak and strong pawns, significance of the center, opening the center.

it seems pretty bishop-centric, perhaps i dont’ pay enough attention to the power of the bishops?  maybe i am overlooking a significant part of my army?

either way, the book has already brought my attention to things i didn’t even think about, and i’ve only given it a cursory glance.

i’m glad i have book.  i like the font, it has plenty of diagrams and examples, clear, easily readable, examples from actual games to illustrate a point.  i hope i learn from it, and i hope i can apply what i read and learn to actual play, because i can know every word of every book, but if i can’t use it on the board, then i really don’t know crap.

deeds, not words….

so many good books about chess, most people have read them and know them. so i will do a book review that has nothing to do with chess, but if you twist stuff around, you can make it about chess..

the book is Sit down and Shut up by brad warner. the guy who wrote “hardcore zen.” here is the thing about this book and this guy.

while living in japan, i read about hardcore zen, bought the book, and it changed my life. it’s about the power of sitting in front of a blank wall thinking nothing. i did some reasearch and found out the guy who wrote it was another american living in japan, and i met him and he was the real deal. cool guy.

well, he wrote another book, and i just bought it. it goes a bit more in depth into buddhism and the power of sitting zazen (meditating). i am a catholic, devout, follow all the stuff. but i am a buddhist sympathizer. while i don’t agree with everything in the book, as it conflicts with my belief (i believe in a soul and an afterlife), the things in this book can make me a better person, better catholic, and perhaps a better chess player.

one of the ideas in the book is : you are resonsible for everything that happens to you, no matter how seemingly random they may seem. same in chess. the crappy ass position i find myself in is not just my opponenent’s will and doing, it is mine as well. if i suck and lose, it is as much my fault as his victory. perhaps it seems obvious but there is a deeper meaning there (at least to me).

another idea (which i am loosly interpreting and butchering) is the idea of the future. we waste energy worrying about the future, what will happen, when now is the only reality. i could worry that my opponent might fork me and i end up in a bad position, but the position on the board right now is the only reality, the only truth. yes, we plan for the future, yes we plan contingencies for what our opponent might do, but the position on the board is what i must concentrate on and react to, not phantom positions that may occur and may not. for all we know, our opponent might have a destroying move available, and before he plays it, he has a coughing fit and runs off to the bathroom, where he slips and conks his head, knocks himself out, and loses on time. we just don’t know. why waste time worrying about what could happen when the now is what is most important?

there are other things i could warp to fit into a chess analogy, but even without chess relevance, it’s a great book. even if you don’t believe in anything, the book has some great common sense points, and can affect your life for the better, if you are open to that sort of thing.

great book, well worth buying and reading once or twice.

before i begin the book review,  

some guy named gary kasparov, who apparently used to play chess or something, got arrested for trying to overthrow the russian government.  apparently,  vlad “the imapler” putin, russia’s president, was safely ensconced in a corner of the kremlin playing tetris and listening to Esteban playing an electric balilika, when kasparov, riding a horse, positioned himself in such a way as to allow one of the bishops from the russian orthodox church to launch a diagonal missile through the window of the fortification, and putin had nowhere to hide and tipped over.   or something like that, i’m a bit hazy on the details.  if you don’t already know about it, HERE is a link to the whole story.

 the point of that is, that makes kasparov the current “bad boy” of chess.   damnit, *I* wanted to be the “bad boy” of chess.  chess needs a “bad boy.”   more on that tomorrow though, for now, i wanna write all about this cool book i have called…. 

Chess Tactics for Champions by GM susan Polgar.

the format is as follows:  each chapter has an introduction of a principle, (e.g. double attack) followed by an example or two to fully explain the idea, followed by an example from one of GM Pogar’s games illustrating the idea in an actual game, and then 25 or so practise problems.  there are all the basic tactics;  fork, skewer, etc, buy the book also discusses destroying the castled king, perpetual check, and then there is mixed mate in 2 moves, 3 moves, and 4 moves. then there are the chapters of sibling positions, traps and counter traps, and famous combinations.

 this book might be more for beginers and lower rated people, perhaps it’s mostly basic stuff, not too advanced, but i like it.  the puzzles are simple enough to grasp concepts and burn images into my feeble brain, but just hard enough to mot be “too easy” or a waste of my time. 

i really really like this book, and i would reccomend it to anyone who isn’t playing at about the 1700 level or so. 

i bought Chess Openings for Black, Explained, which is a repertoire of black openings, and i gotta say, i love it.  it is printed in what i call “read me font” meaning it is pleasant to the eyes, the words gladly jump off the page into your brain, you dont’ have to struggle to read it.  the importait points are in a blue print, which highlights them quite pleasantly and each chapter is organized so it starts with what you should look for, the points it will make, then gives you the content, then there is a bit of re-enforcment type quiz at the end. 

it starts with defending against 1. e4, then against 1. d4, , then against 1.c4 and other opening moves, and has illustrative games to back up and emphasize points.  the diagrams are on the page that refers to them, the information stays focused and tight, so you get the biggest amount of info in the most direct manner, and overall, i am damn happy with it.  it has enough info to get you familiar with various sound tried and true openings to where, if you really really like one, you can go and get further material and specialize in that particular opening. 

i am definately glad i bought this book, and i expect it will help me greatly.  totally worth it,  i honestly think i have a chance as black now. 

every once in a while, i manage to hang in a game long enough to get to an end game. then i promptly lose. this, combined with various articles on chess cafe mentioning importance of end games and the lack of good books about them, inspired me to get a book on endgames.  

i read good things about Capablancas best chess endings, so i bought that one, and i’m glad damn i did.  first off, it is written by irving chernev.  i have no idea who he is, but about half the chess books i have are by him, he freakin rocks.   the book is written clearly,  whole games are annotated, with emphysis on endgame analysis.  and i like the font, which for me is a factor in how much i like a book.  if the font is too small or off-putting, the information, while perhaps the golden nuggets of wisdom that would transform me into a real chess player, is lost.   the book is well put together and so useful.  the only small thing i dislike is the annotation.  it’s not the old B QKt 3, it is the modern B b3, but it includes where the piece originates, which makes it just a wee bit muddled.   but that is a small niggling point.  the book is great.

  the best part about it is, these are actual games, not manufactured end games, so there is a larger chance of coming across similar positions in actual play.   and, it’s capablanca, so if i study his endgames, and emulate him, i should be making the right moves.  

the other thing about studying the endgames, it gives me something to shoot for.  by seeing how endgames are played and how they play out, i can make decisions during the middle game with the endgame in mind.  perhaps i wouldn’t mind trading off some major pieces, knowing that i could finish off my oponent with a win and not settle for a draw, and i could go into the endgame with less trepidation and concern. 

now all i have to do is make it *TO* the endgame…..